


Dream A Little Dream Of Me

by alpha_arietis



Category: Thundercats (2011)
Genre: Bad Decisions, Body Dysphoria, Body Hair, Body Image, Body Worship, Cat/Human Hybrids, Character Development, Cheetara (Thundercats 2011) is Caught in the Middle, Developing Relationship, Domestic Fluff, Eventual Smut, Eye of Thundera (Thundercats), F/M, Fluff, How Do I Tag, I'm Bad At Summaries, I'm Bad At Tagging, Lion-O (Thundercats 2011) is a Mess, Major Original Character(s), Multi, No Incest, Original Female Character(s) - Freeform, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Panthro (Thundercats 2011) Has the Only Braincell, Possible Character Death, Self-Discovery, Self-Esteem Issues, Sharing a Bed, Sick Character, Small Towns, Something Made Them Do It, Tags Contain Spoilers, Tags May Change, Thundera (Thundercats), Tygra (Thundercats 2011) is a Mess, Vague A/B/O, Wilykat (Thundercats 2011) is a Little Shit, Wilykit (Thundercats 2011) is a Little Shit, original - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-19
Updated: 2021-01-29
Packaged: 2021-03-10 22:08:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 15,104
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28414389
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/alpha_arietis/pseuds/alpha_arietis
Summary: Lion-O was devastated after Pumyra’s betrayal, and decides to travel alone to get his head back in the game.Except the idiot forgot that Cheetara and Panthro are the foragers, not him, and it ends up getting him into some major trouble.
Relationships: Cheetara/Tygra (Thundercats), Lion-O (Thundercats)/Original Female Character(s)
Comments: 4
Kudos: 7





	1. Prologue

Lion-O needed time to rediscover himself after the Battle of Avista and Pumyra’s betrayal. Despite all of their reassuring words, he felt like he let them down by trusting her and not being able to see her betrayal.

So he left.

It felt like years had gone by since he’d last seen them., and he’s already improved his sword fighting significantly, as well as his logic and patience. He’s no longer the impulsive young man that failed them in their time of need.

Or so he thought.

He didn’t have a map, so he didn’t know where he was, but it was storming badly and there was no sign of shelter as far as the eye can see. His stomach churned painfully, probably as a result of him coming into contact with something poisonous. It only served to make his day more unbearable as he searched for even a tree to take shelter under. The plains seemed to go on forever as he ran and avoided bolts of lightning. Lion-O couldn’t help but find the storm unusual, as he had never seen anything like it in his entire life, but the thought was pushed from his mind when the churning in his stomach became unbearable and his vision started to blur, sending him straight to his knees.

Grunts of pain escape him as the rain permeates through his armor and fur. Clutching his stomach, he didn’t realize just how much weight he lost until his armor clanked loosely against his abdomen instead of being snug and unmoving. It was startling, as he thought he’d been doing well for himself, but from the pain deep in his body, slowly darkening eyesight, and the new space between his body and clothes, it’s obvious he wasn’t.

The sound of soft footsteps is just barely audible to him as his consciousness fades, leaving him with the now normal comfort of blackness.

Ailura didn’t normally take in people, as she’s come to learn that the less people she’s around, the safer she is, but she remembered a small group of cats that had asked if she’d seen a lion and sounded genuinely worried. There was a chance she may be compensated monetarily for turning this guy in, so she sent a message to them the moment she got back. It’ll take them a week to reach her assuming they were at the nearest town, so she had time to nurse the lion back to health.

Taking off his armor and shirt and drying him off, she noticed he was in dire need of food, exercise, and a haircut. His body still had some muscle due to the daily requirements it took to survive, but from the look of his skin, it was a far cry from what he used to be. 

Looking at his brow that was beaded with sweat, she sighed and deduced that he ate a common poisonous plant that was near here, and once she settled him into her guest bed, she wet a cloth and draped it over his forehead. Once it's resting, Ailura goes to set a pot of tea on the stove for him and takes the time to look him over.

Ignoring his sickly state, he was attractive, and whoever was his mate was lucky to have him. Although compared to her own stature, everyone except kittens were giant like, she could still tell he was naturally broad and tall, most likely due to his lion descent. Ailura felt heat bloom in her face as she imagined what the lion must have looked like in better conditions, and quickly shook her head to tend to the clay pot.

“You are a careless kitten,” She says to herself as she pours him the tea, “But I guess being a lion is a mindset you are still learning.” Once it’s cooled enough, she takes the seat by his bedside and gently pours it into his mouth to give his body enough time to swallow it.

“When you are awake, we will work on your mental and physical state, lioncub.” Although aware of the fact that she was in Mummra’s territory and could be killed for harboring a lion, she still couldn’t help but want to bring him to full strength before turning him over. However, she’s told herself that plans could change just as fast as she could blink.


	2. Accidentally

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “My name is Ailura, and you happened to collapse in the meadow in front of my house a week ago.”

When Lion-O woke up, the first thing he noticed was a sweet, almost homey scent. It was like a pottery house mixed with honey and floral tea, which was unusual considering the last thing he remembered was collapsing in the middle of a storm.

Shooting up in bed, he’s immediately overcome by an empty stomach, a headache, and the remnants of what he can only assume as food poisoning. It sends him back into bed and he’s thankful by the gradual increase of the scent as it takes his mind off the pain. 

Looking around, he notices he’s in a small, but well decorated room with a stained glass window to his right showing that it’s raining, although nowhere near as heavily as when he was incapacitated. The walls had different ceramics and colored glass sculptures and were painted a comforting blue. He looks at the bed he was in; stiff from childhood standards, but plush beyond belief if he was going with hardened traveler standards, and the blankets were soft and colorful.

The door was oak, and on the furthest side of the left wall with a dresser to the right of it, and on either sides of his bed, ebony side tables with lit candles.

It was obvious whoever took him in makes their own items, and makes them well. Although his royal upbringing was telling him this was the room of someone poor, as it was cramped and lacked the upscale level he was used to, almost two years of traveling and sleeping on the ground told him that this was a luxury he shouldn’t get used to.

The door suddenly opens and a woman enters, allowing the comforting scent to fill in along with the delicious smell of crayfish and roasted potatoes. 

She had big green eyes framed in long lashes and dark brown fur, her hair, although flat at the top, cascaded in a loose braid and faded to a beautiful copper. Her face and front body had white markings and her hands, although showed signs of clay staining, had the same copper as her hair. The woman’s soft looking body was draped in a dress dyed lavender, and he almost snorted at her height but held his tongue out of respect. 

“I hope you like crayfish,” She says softly, “If it’s too solid, let me know. I have a pot of soup on the stove.” He tries to voice his gratitude, but his voice only comes out in a weak mewl, embarrassing him. The woman laughs gently and sets the wooden tray on her lap. Picking up a clay fork, she skewers a piece of the crustacean and Lion-O can’t help the river of drool that spills out at the sight of the meat. Blowing on it to bring it to temperature, she brings the fork to his mouth and he eagerly accepts the food without a second thought.

He purrs in happiness at the taste of the food, and his body doesn’t complain either until he swallows it, which goes down like a lump of coal. The lion winces and before he has time to process it, she’s already taken the tray out and come back in with a bowl of rich orange soup.

“This should be easier to eat. It’s sweet potato,” She says, and Lion-O looks at her in appreciation. She does the same to the spoon of soup as she did to the crayfish, and the moment he swallows it, it was like silk on his throat and was the perfect ratio of sweet, savory, and creaminess. The purr that rumbled in his chest this time was significantly richer than the one before and his face turned red when she giggled.

“I take that as it goes down better.” Her voice was delicately soft, and after thinking about it for a minute, he guessed the comforting smell was coming from her, which was strange to him, as he’s never known any cat with that strong of a scent.

Opening his mouth to say something but only a hoarse whisper comes out again. The woman shakes her head and feeds him another spoon, which he accepts gratefully.

“Don’t try to talk for awhile. You ingested a poisonous berry somewhere along your travels and with how malnourished you are, it’s effects are quite strong on you.” He nods in understanding and happily slurps another spoon. She notices a little on his lip and with what looked like a handwoven cloth, wipes his lip clean.

“My name is Ailura, and you happened to collapse in the meadow in front of my house a week ago.” Lion-O nearly spits out his soup. A week? He was out that long?

“Yes, you were out that long,” She answers softly, “That berry can incapacitate you for months if you're not careful.” After his fourth spoon, she picks up the small clay mug and he almost moans at the scent coming from it. 

“Drink this, it’s the antidote for that berry,” She tells him, and with her help, he gulps it down quickly. It didn’t taste as amazing as it smelt, but it didn’t taste like feet either. “You’ll have to drink two of those a day to make sure it’s flushed out of your system, My Lord.”

Panicked, his eyes suddenly widen as he remembers the sword-

“Relax, Your Majesty. The sword is under a compartment in the kitchen. I left it there just in case I get any unwanted visitors.” Skeptical, but realizing his best bet is to trust her for now, he nods and accepts another spoon. “I can explain a sick lion, but not a legendary sword.”

After a minute or two, Lion-O was happily full and she was taking the tray out of the room. When she came back, it was with books, a sketch pad, and a little box of puzzles.

“I figured you’d want to stay up for a bit, so these won’t strain your body too much,” He’s appreciative, but not in the mood for any of the items.

Taking the hint, she sets them on the ebony dresser close to the door.

“Get some rest, My King. Tomorrow we should start rebuilding your strength.” Nodding, he smiles gratefully at her as she blows out the candles in the room and leaves the room, keeping his door slightly ajar.

Listening closely, he hears her washing his dishes and eating his first meal. Not long after, he hears her humming to herself and wood hitting brick. Right after, the crackle of a fire fills his ears and can see the glow of it through the door.

It was comforting here, that he couldn’t deny. He’d have to be careful not to get too comfortable or he may never leave.

The next day, he somewhat had his voice back, and was greeted by the most delicious tea he had ever had in his life as well as amazing oatmeal. It was easy on his throat and helped him be able to speak.

“Thank you,” He finally rasped out and ended up choking on his laugh when he saw how bright red she got.

“Your welcome, but here comes the tricky task,” She sets the tray back outside and comes back in only to hold out her hands.

“Let’s see how badly this has affected you,” He’s about to take her hands when she realizes something and flushes again.

“Check if your pants are okay. If you need a belt, let me know,” He checks and is startled to not only realize he’s bare chested, which he should’ve noticed by now, and that without his armor, his pants are barely high enough to cover him.

“Uh, yes please.” She rushes out and comes back with a sturdy twine belt. He puts it on appreciatively and then grabs her hands. 

He’s surprised at the amount of strength Ailura has and stumbles when he’s hauled to his feet. She catches him and steadies him and they’re both surprised to find he’s stable and able to stand on his own.

“Alright, I’m going to go directly back, and you’re gonna follow me.” Nodding, he waits a second before following her. Although his calves and thighs protest slightly, once he’s moving, he’s happily walking to her with a grin.

Until he trips over the rug he didn’t notice it was there.

Ailura gasps and is only able to soften the blow as he sends them flying backward.

Thankfully, she chose to walk towards the couch and they land on something soft, but their position makes her flush intensely.

“We’re gonna have to work on your awareness,” She squeaks but a knock on her door has her shoving him off. Lion-O is just as startled but settles himself back on the couch to look as normal as possible. 

When she answers the doors, he tenses at the voice of mutants and does everything he can not to lunge.

“Is there something you’d like?” She asks breathlessly, still regaining her breath from the fall.

“Some merchants saw you bringing a lion back a few days ago but haven't seen them leave. They have concerns,” A lizard mutant hisses and he’s surprised when she responds.

“Yes, he’s in here,” She responds quickly but before betrayal can set in again, she follows up naturally. “He’s my lover, you see. He goes out selling my works and he just had an adverse reaction to something the other day so I had to go get him.”

“Can we look around?” It was more of a demand than a question so she lets them in, and instantly, Lion-O thinks he’ll be recognized, but the lizards barely scrutinize him, probably looking for signs of the sword. He doesn’t realize he’s trying to get up until Ailura gently presses down on his chest.

“You’re still too weak to stand my love, I’ll handle this,” Lion-O immediately understands where she’s going with this and plays along, smiling softly at her. He nods and broadens his smile when she kisses his forehead.

Not long after, the mutant comes back with embarrassment showing on his face.

“I apologize for interrupting you two during,” He gestures to both of their flushed faces, along with Lion-O’s shirtless form and Ailura wrinkled clothes and slightly tousled hair, “That. It was merely a false alarm.” The mutant leaves quickly and the woman immediately sighs in relief, sitting next to him on the couch.

“I just put us in a tight spot, sorry,” He shakes his head and takes in his surroundings. 

“Don’t worry about it. You saved my butt just now.”

“Yeah but now we’ll have to pretend to actually have some sort of feelings for each other when we’re outside.”

“Small price to pay.” Rolling her eyes, she sits up a little and sighs before patting his shoulder.

“I’ll start leaving a list of things you can do to help build up your strength again. Don’t push yourself and only do what you can before it starts hurting.” He nods and watches her get up. 

“The water spicket is in the kitchen. It’s clean and there’s mugs in the purple cabinet. I’ll be outback until lunch, then I’ll start cooking.”

Before he can say thank you, she’s already out the door.

Ailura had already harvested all the vegetables and most of the cotton when Lion-O had come out with a cup of water and greeted her with a kiss on the cheek.

Judging from the fact he was wearing cotton pants and shirt, she guessed he found the shower and the spare clothes.

“Thank you love.” She gulps down the water and sets it on the little wooden table she had under the shade. Ailura is surprised when Lion-O starts taking the crates of vegetables inside.

“What are you doing?” She asks when he takes the last crate in.

“The least I can do is wash the vegetables and pack them away. I’d deal with the cotton but you have to show me how you pick and clean them.” Nodding in surprise, she’s shocked to find the king willing to get dirty, even if it helps his cover.

“I’ll be in in a minute. I just have a few more bushels to harvest.” He nods and unsure, gives her a hug. She returns it warmly and when he’s back inside, she sighs and picks up the last empty crate.

Ailura hated harvest day with a passion, but the sooner she can pick everything, the faster she can get to cooking and crafting.

Once the cotton is done, Ailura heads to the river next to her cottage with a small basket and easily spots crayfish and pipis. She smoothly scoops a crayfish up and places it in the basket, then takes out a small woven bag and opens it. She grabs the pipis and once she’s shaken them of water, places them in the bag and folds it.

When she’s done, she goes inside to find the bathroom door ajar and Lion-O searching for something.

“Do you have anything I can use to cut my hair?” He asks when he sees her and she shakes her head in amusement.

“I do, just let me get the bread resting and food on the stove.” He grumbles in response but let’s her do her thing.

She sets a pot on the stove and starts cutting up some of the vegetables from the day's harvest. Ailura was surprised at how easy the two were around each other, but she guessed it was due to her disarming nature. He’s underestimating her and not thinking she’s a major threat, the worst being she turns him in to the mutants.

The Lion isn’t entirely wrong. Ailura knows she can’t beat him in a straight fist fight. But throw them in the water? She has him beat. That little fact, however, is not getting out unless it’s absolutely needed. 

Once the vegetables were in with some stock, she quickly started working on bread dough, and was happily mixing when she realized there were no prying eyes on her. 

After she wrapped the dough in cloth, she went back in the bathroom to find the lion sulking at his reflection and messing with his hair and overgrown facial features.

“Let’s get you cleaned up,” She mutters to herself after grabbing a pair of scissors from a drawer and not the cabinet he was searching.

Lion-O was tense the entire time she cut his hair and wasn’t even paying attention to the results in the mirror. Ailura remembered the young lion's portraits and decided that cutting his mane to look like that again could get them caught, so she goes with something his brother has done before; an undercut.

He watches her intently as she deftly navigates the blades around his head and face, and when it’s all over, he’s so focused on where her hand is with the scissors, Lion-O doesn’t realize she’s speaking to him.

“Lion-O! You still here?” Shaking his head to snap out of his trance, he finally looks at the finished product and can’t help but smile.

“I asked if it was to your standards.” He smiles and fingers the tufts of hair that still stick up and feels his face.

“Yeah, at least I don’t look like a stray now,” His comment makes her laugh and she leaves him with his reflection to go back to the stove where the stock was bubbling and the vegetables were starting to soften.

Ailura adds in the pipis and the crayfish just as Lion-O comes back with his nose twitching at the scents from the pot. He looks over the list sitting on the glass counter and is surprised by the tasks: harvest fruit trees, weed vegetable patch, recycle clay, hunt, cut wood, buy milk, get sand. The tasks seemed trivial to him, but he’s guessing they’re those jobs that are actually more complex in the steps than the overall task.

“So, I hope you know you’ll have to show me how to do half these things,” He points out as he watches her pour in what looks like fresh milk into the pot. Lion-O couldn’t help but approach from behind to see what was in the pot but yelps when she bats at him with a wooden spoon.

“Ah, ah, ah! Wash those grubby paws before coming anywhere near my food!” The lion grumbles but does as she commands and heads to the sink to wash his hands. He fumbles with the faucet, trying to figure out how it works, but once he does, he quickly cleans his hands and comes back to look in the pot.

The soup was a creamy white with chunks of potato, carrot, and some other vegetable floating in it along with bits of crayfish meat and either clams or oysters. It smelt amazing and Lion-O was acting like a kitten when she scooped a little bit for him to try.

“It’s a heavier lunch since I’ll be in the workshop most of the evening-”

“Gods, that is amazing,” The woman snorts at his comment and turns off the stove, grabbing some bowls and starting to spoon some of the soup. Lion-O grabs two spoons and eagerly sits at the counter, eyeing her hands as she places the steaming bowl in front of him.

“Thank you!” Although his voice was still hoarse, he had no qualms being vocal about his thoughts of the soup, even if it was scorching his tongue and mouth.

“There’s no rush, let it cool.” At her request, he stubbornly slows down and lets the soup cool and give his mouth time to rest.

Taking in the appearance of the kitchen, he couldn’t help but awe fill his mind at the stained glass cabinets and countertop and carved wood and clay stove and sink.

“Did you make all of this yourself?” He asks her and she nods sheepishly.

“Yep. I make things for everyone for a price, mainly for people in Thundera before it fell, so now my main clients are Berbils and caravans.”

“You said you have a workshop? Maybe you could teach me glassblowing or something so when I finish the stuff on the list I can help you with jobs.” Although he was just trying to pull his weight since she was sheltering him, Ailura couldn’t help but laugh at his request.

“What? What did I say?” She shakes her head and eats a spoonful of the soup, enjoying how the pipi muscle melts on her tongue.

“Nothing, Your Majesty, just surprised the king of the Thundercats is willing to get his hands dirty.”

“Finally knowing what most of my citizens live like changed my perspective.” Ailura raises her eyebrow but doesn’t say anything more, finishing her soup and going to wash her bowl. Lion-O can’t help but analyze her form; how she holds herself, how she moves across the room, how her hands move, all in the hopes of getting a better idea of who she was, but all he got was a flushed face when he realizes exactly what he was doing.

“I’ll be in the workshop Mr Eyes,” Ailura reminds, obviously having caught him watching her. The color on his cheeks intensifies but he nods, quickly finishing his soup so he can look around the cottage and her land.

The moment the door closes, he’s on his feet and snooping around, trying not to leave shreds of hair everywhere to alert her to his investigation.

He discovered he was right in two things; the comforting smell was definitely Ailura as there were no scented candles or incense anywhere, and the house was more of a cottage, having only two bedrooms, a bathroom, a kitchen, and a living space.

In the central living space was a leather couch, assortment of blankets and pillows, an oak coffee table, a fireplace, and bookshelves stocked with books, sketchbooks, schematics, and other paper based items. The rug he tripped on was white, but brought everything together and you could feel Ailura’s touch on it all.

Peaking around, he finds her bedroom door open and against his better judgement, he decides to take a look.

The walls were a delicate lavender, much like the dress he first saw her in, and the room was a fair bit bigger than his. She had a double bed at least with brass bed posts and pretty yellow bed sheets with a thick white and blue comforter. On her walls were paintings and intricate woodworks, probably her sentimental works that she doesn’t want to sell, and on her dresser, which was an ebony similar to his, was a set of keys and a vase filled with roses and with a note next to it, probably from her real lover. The room however, reeked of her scent and it was borderline impossible to continue looking around with a clear head.

“I told you to get off my land! I don’t want your stupid hand in marriage!” Her voice was loud and pierced through his ears, but not in the desperate way. It was more of a call to back her up without raising alarms. So Lion-O ruffles his hair and walks out the back, ignoring the ache in his body that started to develop from doing so much at once.

Outside, a wildcat was blocking Ailura from entering a well put together shack. She was obviously uncomfortable and he could see something glinting in the palm of her hand behind her back as she tried to get around him.

“Please Aili,” The cat purrs, the slur in his voice telling Lion-O he’s drunk. “C’mon, all you’d have to do is cook-”

“And be a trophy wife? No way! I’d rather do it out of choice than be forced by the likes of you!”

Walking behind her, he wraps his arms around her waist and glares at the cat, hoping he doesn’t look too awkward.

“Is he bothering you, love?” Lion-O rasps, thankful his sore throat helps his case.

“Yes, actually,” Ailura snaps, although it was directed to the person in front of her. “This ranch hand from the dairy farm up the hill hasn’t left me alone since you left.” 

The first thing Lion-O noticed was the cat was eyeing her throat and that Ailura was keeping her hands close to it. It told him that this was not their first bad encounter, and they’ve had one far worse.

Well, as much as he wanted to see how she fights, he has to keep up the charade that they’re together, so he decides to use his lower and raspier than normal voice to his advantage.

“I suggest you go back to your farm and leave us alone. She said she wasn’t interested in someone like you,” He growls at the man who scoffs at him, the alcohol clearly inhibiting his natural perception of danger.

“What are you gonna do about it? You’re a wildcat just like us.” Deciding to straighten up, even in his weakened state, Lion-O still towers over the both of them and the cat's tail falls between his legs.

“I said scram!” He snarls and the man goes running, stumbling in the river and over the roots of plants. Once he was gone, Lion-O hunched back over to save his back some ache and was surprised when he was ushered into the workshop and forced onto a rather plush chair. It helped take the strain off his muscles significantly and he sighs in relief.

“Does he come around a lot?” The lion asks gruffly and he sees her nod as she takes things out of shelves, puts items back, and tosses her braid back over her shoulder.

“It’s somewhat normal, but they’re not usually drunk like that, and that makes it harder for me to get them to leave.” Her voice, although strong, had the slightest tremor to it. Judging from her statement, she hasn’t had the best experiences with the drunk cats and Lion-O has learned better than to push.

“Why do they target you, if I may ask?” He’s not sure if he’s heard over the clutter, but from the look on her face, he can tell he was, and it was an embarrassing topic for her.

“Well, I guess I should explain if we’re supposed to pretend to be a thing.” She takes a seat and starts unscrewing caps to bottles before she takes something out of a thick wrapping. It was a tall, slender cloth container, probably a quiver she was commissioned to do.

“I’m the only female this far out without a partner,” She starts with a hint of embarrassment to her tone, the rest was filled with pride. “Because this far out, we don’t get support from Thundera, so we work young, marry young, have kids young, and do everything we want while we’re young because half of us don’t live past 30.” It was startling to hear, but Lion-O keeps his mouth shut as she continues to explain, deftly painting the quiver with something he can’t see.

“So the fact that someone like me is already self sufficient, profiting well, and a good cook, they want to be my partner so I can just be a trophy wife and they leech off my hard work.” It was understandable in the lion’s eyes. He knew that if he was in her shoes, he’d feel the same way.

“But I’m sure not everyone around here is like that,” Lion-O says when he’s sure she won’t speak up again. However, the look on her face tells him that he’s partially right, but there’s more reasons.

“There are, but they just,” She ponders over her words for a minute, “Don’t like how I look. They want someone who's as lean as a clergy or curvy as a barmaid, not me.” Suddenly she laughs bitterly and turns her eyes back to the quiver.

“I don’t even know why I’m telling you all this. I barely know you, you barely know me,” Ailura trails off and keeps painting with her embarrassment hanging in the air. Lion-O is surprised that someone as confident as her is embarrassed by their conversation, but as she said, he doesn’t know her, so she may not be as confident as he thinks she is.

“Why don’t we get to know each other later? Since from how I feel, I don’t think I’ll be able to leave without collapsing again any time soon.” She nods absently and the lion can’t help but notice how small she was, not just in height, but in stature. Her hand suddenly slipped and she cried out. The cry grabs his attention and he’s instantly around back to look at what happened.

Her hand was sliced and blood was trickling out and he noticed she was more worried about the quiver than her hand, so he moved the object and looked around for first aid.

“Under the rose cabinet in the black box,” She hisses as she tries not to snap at him. Lion-O quickly snags the box and opens it, and he’s never been more thankful for watching Cheetara patch up the twins than now.

He pours a little bit of the cleaning solution in the box onto a ball of cotton and after soaking up the blood still oozing, gently dabs the gash. Ailura hisses and flinches, but stays still as he clumsily stitches her hand back together and wraps it.

“Eye for an eye I guess,” She weakly jokes and although the blood got on her dress and made it look like she lost more than she really did, he couldn’t help but smile at her remarks. 

“Saving me from dying and me stitching a cut on your hand aren’t exactly the same thing,” He starts to sop up the little droplets on the table and smiles at her when he notices her staring down sadly.

“Don’t worry about dinner. Just tell me what to do, I’ll do the hard work.” Ailura raises her eyebrow and shakes her head with a faint smile.

“Y’know, maybe looking after you for a while won’t be so bad.”

“Is that a compliment? I didn’t know you were capable of those!”

“Oh shut up lioncub.”

“That’s _king_ lioncub to you.”

“Sure, but a lioncub is a lioncub.”


	3. Memory

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Without the impending clock that was the Book of Omens to remind Lion-O of the time, days turned to weeks, weeks to month, and it all felt like a blink.

Their time together sort of blurred together after that night, with only a few nights sticking out to the both of them.

The first being a week after the cut incident. 

Lion-O had gained enough strength to help out with the vegetable and fruit harvest, and insisted on doing all the fruit and vegetable picking and cleaning so Ailura had more time to focus on her crafts and he also did the dairy runs. The ranch hand hasn’t looked him in the eye since they first met, and as such, hasn’t bothered Ailura.

It was that night that stuck out to them and was the point that they became closer.

A storm very similar to the one that they met in, and Lion-O was attempting his hand at eggnog. He would’ve steeped tea, but the leaves are different from those he’s steeped before, and he didn’t want to risk burning them, so he found Ailura’s recipe for eggnog and decided to try that. However, said woman was nowhere to be seen, and it was worrying the lion as she was always around when he was in the kitchen.

That’s when he heard her shriek when a bolt of lightning struck the ground unusually close to the house.

Setting the pot on the counter, he went to the bathroom where he thought he heard her shriek. Lion-O opens the door to find her cowering in the corner in her undergarments, holding her head and sobbing.

“Ailura?” He asks softly and tries to calm her down when she jumps and hits her elbow on the wall. This was something he’s heard her do late at night and he’s never heard anything sadder. Ailura would try her best not to disturb him, but from weeks spent sleeping in the wild, he’s become a light sleeper, and her muffled cries always woke him.

“I’m sorry, just scared of storms.” Lion-O rolls his eyes and sits next to her against the wall.

“I’m not buying it. Two weeks of living with you in a place that gets a new storm every other day proves to me that’s definitely not it.”

“You’re right, but i’m not in the mood to talk about it.” Her voice was filled with self loathing, and from looking at how agitated her skin was, Lion-O guessed that it had to do with her physical form.

It was an educated guess, however, as he noticed how she had clothes with open midriffs on her clothes line, yet she only wore one solid article. He noticed how whenever they went to the markets to sell items, she would avoid pictures for the local news, and whenever he caught her looking at the mirror, he almost always saw her pinching her stomach and sucking it in.

Lion-O personally didn’t understand what she saw wrong with herself, but he always had people singing praises to him, maybe she didn’t have that growing up.

“C’mon, I tried making eggnog and one of my friends says that laughing over failures is the best way to cheer someone up,” Laughing through a sniffle, Ailura allows Lion-O to help her up and she slips a shirt on. 

She clings to his arm as they make their way back out and although it was strange for her, he doesn’t mention it. It’s rare that she’s like this indoors, so he concludes she just needs a pillar for the moment. Lion-O figures it’s the least he can do after she helped him cleanse the poison from his system.

The lion gets her situated on the couch before heading back to finish the eggnog and pour it into two small mugs. Lion-O walks back to find her staring into the flames and wrapping herself in one of the blankets.

Handing her a mug, Lion-O sits on the couch and finds himself surprised as Ailura changes to rest against him. It was further proving that she’s as soft as she looks, and he can’t help but blush when he feels her purr.

“Would you consider us friends, Lion-O?” She asks after taking a sip from her mug. It does make Lion-O ponder, however. He’s not sure if their relationship is based purely off necessity, or if there is actually something between them. Going based on actions when they’re inside, he makes his decision.

“I’d like to say we are, even if we’re not the best of friends,” He finally answers and can feel her smile sadly against his side.

“I’ve never had friends, to be honest,” She saids drowsily, sleep slowly taking her over. “So if this is what they’re like, I’m glad you’re my first friend.”

Lion-O was about to respond in dismay, but was pleasantly surprised to find Ailura asleep against him. He sets their cups down on the table and repositions himself to be more comfortable and resettles Ailura on his chest.

“How someone like you hasn’t had friends before, I will never know,” He whispers and feels a warmth spread in his chest at the sight.

Event number two happened two weeks after that, and although it was just no more than five minutes, it was replayed constantly in their minds.

At this point, Lion-O had regained almost all his leg strength, but was only halfway with his arms and a quarter with his core. He’s made Ailura spend more time in the workshop and taken over all the harvesting and cleaning aside from the sand, and has tried to get back into hunting.

That day however, two were working at Ailura's stand at a pop up market that was featuring local musicians with some even using instruments Ailura herself made. Lion-O was out getting them food while she sold her crafts when he heard the message from one of the groups performing that the next few songs were for couples, and he groaned internally that he would have to be mushy with the woman.

Not that he was opposed to it or anything. It was just making it harder to separate himself from the facade they had put up.

When he came back, he felt like he was drugged because everything seemed to move in slow motion when the light from sunset hit her. Her hair, which was done in a four strand braid with flowers woven in, seemed unusually copper in an elegant way, and her eyes glittered in excitement as she, for once, wasn’t focused on her appearance, which consisted of a white off the shoulder top and white shorts. You could see the little dips where her skin was freed from the tightness of the clothes, but it only served to accentuate her softness. She was gorgeous when she was happy, and Lion-O didn’t even realize the thought crossed his mind until his heart skipped a few beats.

“I sold it!” She squeals in excitement when he reaches their tent and barely gives him enough time to put the food down to catch her after lunging at him to hug him.

“That glass vase?” He asks incredulously and when she nods, he spins her around, not noticing her feet coming off the ground. 

Grinning, Ailura raises her hands Lion-O's cheeks and she presses a happy, loving kiss to his lips. Neither of them realize what’s happening until someone yells ‘what a catch’ to the lion and it brings them to their senses.

Embarrassed, he sets her down and slides his hands to her now dropped ones as they grin like idiots. Lion-O wasn’t expecting it to be like heaven, but it was, and it was probably the best kiss he ever had. It was soft, sweet, and he could taste that floral tea and honey he smells on her all the time, and it was delicious,  _ she  _ was delicious.

But he shouldn’t be thinking that way. Not even slightly. He’s never thought that way about Cheetara or Pumyra, so what was different about Ailura?

Memory number three is not their most pleasant night together, but most likely the one that brought the two to a closer understanding of each other.

It was late at night, and although Lion-O had already retired to his room, Ailura was still wide awake and was reading in her room. The book was about an old Third Earth legend of how everything came to be; a meteor crashed into the surface and out came six cats, two being wildcat twins, one lion, one cheetah, one panther, and one tiger. They roamed the land in search of a home and settled in what is now Thundera. It was interesting to Ailura, but to her it was a legend and no more.

She was well into the thick of the book when she heard noises coming from Lion-O’s room, something that’s never happened before. Cautious, she makes her way to the door and barely opens it to see the lion thrashing in his bed, working up a sweat. He was saying something in his sleep, and that was the only indicator that it was a nightmare.

Gently, she creeps in and sits on the side of the bed, whispering to him and brushing the hair out of his face. 

“You’re alright. Whatever is happening cannot harm you here.” Ailura used the same voice she used when Lion-O was sick and unconscious. It was a soft, gentle voice that she’s been told has soothed people's souls, so she softly told him reassurances as she wiped his brow clean of sweat and re-bundled him into his sheets.

When he mentioned the name Pumrya and started to cry, she couldn’t help but feel her heart break in two at the sound of his voice. Lion-O was hurt by whoever this Pumyra is, and although Ailura knew it was none of her business, she knew she couldn’t let him suffer through this any longer.

“Lion-O, wake up,” She whispers, caressing his cheek. When he still tosses and turns, the smaller cat tries to shake him.

“Lion-O, come one, you’re having a nightmare-” His eyes open with a frenzied look to them and he grabs Ailura by the front of her nightshirt and flips them over, pinning her to the bed by her throat and starting to squeeze. 

Ailura was starting to cry. She knew she shouldn’t have trusted him enough to let him stay in her home longer than necessary, and she was about to do something about it when she noticed how unfocused his eyes were and how he was still snarling the name ‘Pumyra’. So in a last resort before hurting him, she tries again.

“Lion-O, you’re safe. You’re in the cottage, you’re with me, Ailura.” Lion-O’s hand was starting to tighten around her windpipe and it was getting harder to stay calm. Then, his eyes seemed to focus again and he suddenly flinched back, taking his hand away from his throat and allowing her to gasp in a full breath.

“I’m sorry,” He says weakly and repetitively, obviously appalled by what he just did. The lion was shaking and Ailura didn’t know what to do. She was scared to go near him in case he goes after her again, but from her experience with soldiers, it was reflex that drove him to choke her, not hate. Cautiously, she sits up and runs her agitated neck, watching the lion while running through options in her head.

So she does what she thought was best, and pulls him into a hug.

“Whatever you dreamt, it’s not here anymore. Pumyra cannot find you or hurt you here.” Tentatively, he wraps his arms back around her and clutches her shirt, unsure of what to do but finding comfort in her scent.

“It’s okay to cry, Lion-O,” She reassures and when she hears him hiccup, Ailura knows she’s opened the floodgates and can feel his tears wet her shirt. 

One thing she’s noticed those in war tend to forget, is that their mental standing matters just as much as their physical strength, and this lioncub was no exception. His wails told her more than his words ever could, and she’s never seen as sad eyes as she did in his. Whatever happened with Pumyra broke him, and is affecting him to his core.

“How often do you have these nightmares?” She asks him softly as she threads her fingers through his hair.

“I don’t know,” He mumbles, “It’s random.” Ailura couldn’t tell if it was a lie or not, but no one should have to suffer through nightmares, not even her worst enemy.

“I’m so sorry, Ailura,” Lion-O sobs again, “I don’t know what came over me and I thought you were her and I just.” He trails off in a sniffle and is surprised when she manages to drag him back to lying down, his head resting on her chest.

“Ailura what-”

“Go back to sleep lioncub. I’ll be right here.” She starts playing with his hair and massaging his scalp, heart beat calming down and lulling the lion back into a state of calm.

“Tell me in the morning. For tonight, rest.” 

Lion-O doesn’t even realize he started to purr until she giggles softly. 

When he’s about to apologize again, he takes a breath of her scent and decides for once, he’s going to be selfish and cherish the reprieve Ailura has just given him from his own thoughts.

Listening to her heartbeat, Lion-O feels his eyes grow heavy, and as much as he doesn’t want to close them in case he sees Pumyra again, her fingers in his hair was soothing him back into slumber.

This time, instead of the bloody battlefield he normally dreams of, he saw the cottage with smoke coming out the chimney and the trees filled with amazing ripe fruits with Ailura coming out of the workshop with a big smile.

Almost two and a half months after the storm, number four truly blurred the lines between charade and reality, and the pair were unsure where it left them.

It was their grande harvest day, a day that happens every two months where all their crops have matured enough to be harvested, and the best were sold for high profit.

It was also the one day Ailura was unafraid to show a little bit of skin, Lion-O has come to learn.

The two were outside in the hot sun; Lion-O was shirtless having been able to rebuild (and improve in some areas) his former physique and wanted to show off his results, and Ailura was in a tank top and ripped pants, both badly frayed and dirt stained. 

Both of them were covered in sweat, and by now, we’re comfortable with each other to pull off their facade well.

“How many more gourds do we have?” Lion-O asks when they take a break in the shade.

“About three, then we have the trees and the dye flowers.”

“All the trees?”

“No, just the ones closest to the river. They should all be ripe by now.” Nodding, Lion-O takes a big gulp of his water but feels eyes scanning him in a not so innocent manner. Glancing to the side, he notices Ailura quickly advert her eyes with a blush.

Guess he’s not the only one with straying eyes.

Deciding to mess with her, he winks at the woman before setting his water down and heading back out into the heat, going to pretend he doesn’t notice her lingering glances and little lip bites.

He won’t lie, he hasn’t exactly been helping the situation the past couple of days, with his not so subtle references. In his defense though, he’s pent up, and he finds Ailura very attractive, and seeing her so comfortably open around him isn’t helping his situation.

Lion-O may or may not have caused this, and he’s not ashamed to admit it.

He hears her footsteps come up and starts pulling up the gourds from with ground with him, huffing as she starts to pull an unusually big one.

“Need help?” He asks in amusement as she struggles to get her footing.

“No,” She grunts and suddenly pulls it from the ground with ease, even though it couldn’t be less than 40 pounds. It was hot to see her wanting to and accomplishing things without his help and he didn’t notice he was drooling until she tapped his nose.

“Keep it shut cub, you might eat a fly.” Her joke was ruined for him with ‘cub’, even though he liked the nickname from her.

“Why do you always call me cub?” He asks when she returns while he yanks up the last gourd.

“You have the mindset of a lioncub, not a grown lion,” She answers simply. It makes him grit his teeth but stay silent, taking the now pulled gourd to the little display they had.

He comes back to find her already at the dye bushels and trimming the flowers and fruits from them. It left him with the trees and the delicious fruit, but he couldn’t take his eyes off her.

Ailura’s face was strewn with concentration as she carefully trimmed the fruit off one of her plants and her fingers worked deftly to properly remove it.

When she takes off the fruit, he’s surprised when she cuts it in half and turns to him, deep red juice starting to ooze out.

“Try this,” She tells him, innocent smile concerning him before she ate her half. Tentatively, he eats the half from her fingers and is surprised by how juicy and sweet it was. It was like a mix of strawberries and blackberries.

“You have something,” He expected her to use her thumb and linger it on his lip, tease him that way, but she leans in, capturing his lips and his full attention. Lion-O could taste her and the fruit together and tried to restrain himself as best he could, but it wasn’t enough to stop him from melting into it and his hands from grabbing her waist.

“Did you get it?” He asks her after a long moment. Both their cheeks were flushed but she still winks at him with full confidence as she goes back to trimming the bushel and ignores his question.

Slightly miffed at only getting that, Lion-O turns back to his task and harvests the new fruit at a painstaking rate compared to his partner, even with her constant distractions.

Once they were done and the stand was up, they both realized they still had a good chuck of the evening left, so they decided to get cleaned up and look through recipes for dinner and possibly dessert.

It was when Lion-O came out from his room in his newly woven lounge clothes did he realize how much trouble he’s in.

Although it’s Ailura’s place and she has plenty of clothes for herself, she was still in one of Lion-O’s shirts from before his bulk up. It was still extremely big on her, and although he found it endearing, he knew her ulterior motives.

So he sits next to her, arm behind her, and pretends he doesn’t notice. 

As their browsing through recipes, he notices how she inches closer to him, nestling further into him. Both of them knew she wasn’t being subtle, but for whatever reason, today they both decided to act on their thoughts. 

It brings Lion-O to her lips, which he still felt on him from earlier. He notices her eyes on him as well and the recipe book becomes forgotten.

Ailura seems be waiting on something, and she’s unusually quiet. Lion-O has his suspicions on what it might be, so he decides to give in.

“Go ahead,” He tells her under his breath and is almost taken aback by the ferocity she latches onto him with, hands coming to rest at his chest. He happily kisses back and doesn’t realize he’s pulled her onto his lap until he feels her thighs on either side of him and her hands resting on top of his shoulders now.

She tasted amazing, and subconsciously, the two started to press their chests against other in an effort to be as close as possible.

Lion-O could feel the soft rolls hanging on her hips and waist and trailing his hands further south, he was pleasantly surprised when he could softly grab fistfuls of her rear and still have more to spare.

Gently biting his lip with a smile, Ailura doesn’t know what’s overcome her, but she’s not opposed to the result. His hands felt heavenly on her and there was something in her gut telling her to keep going, to please him.

The lions lips move to her jaw, and Ailura is thankful she has a dark pelt, as she was sure his nibbling and sucking would leave a mark. She bites her her lower lip and her hands thread themselves through his hair as he reaches her neck, each kiss, nibble, and lick getting more enticing then the last.

A loud, needy, and full mewl suddenly fills the air, causing them both to still. Ailura was embarrassed that the sound came over her and was about to apologize when Lion-O dove right back to spot he was, eyes dilated and nails digging in.

He had bit an usually sensitive spot in the juncture of her neck and shoulder and along with his hands pressing into her more, it was ethereal.

“Do that again for me,” He growls against her skin, sending shivers down her spin and pulling another involuntary mewl from her as he sucks the same spot as before.

“Gods,” Ailura’s voice was not even above a whisper and her legs were already starting to shake, but Lion-O’s hands went up her shirt but she panicked, grabbing his wrist tightly and pulling away.

Seemingly pulled back from the moment, his pupils return to normal and his ears tilt down. Ailura is about to apologize when he suddenly hugs her tightly.

“I’m so sorry Ailura. I didn’t ask first, and I should’ve since you asked me first about this whole thing.” He was starting to freak out, but Ailura didn’t have the heart to tell him why she reacted the way she did and ruined the moment.

“No, you did nothing wrong,” She reassures constantly, kissing him softly. “I would just prefer to keep my shirt on.”

“Alright,” He breathed out in relief, quite happy not to have angered her.

Ailura startles him however when she drags him down onto his side and pulls one of the blankets around them.

“I’m tired and cold,” It was weak justification, but after so long without someone to even hug, he wasn’t complaining.

“If it won’t mess up your back, I’m fine spending the night here,” Lion-O rubs circles into her back with his thumb as his own eyes start to become heavy. She mumbles something in response, but her head was buried too deeply in his chest to understand. It was peaceful, and eased him into a comfortable slumber. One he didn’t expect to have.


	4. Reunion

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “You know i’ll be back, right?” Lion-O asks her as he moves closer to her, grabbing some bowls while he is moving.
> 
> “I do, I’m just not looking forward to being alone again.” It was understandable how scared she was about being alone with her own thoughts again.
> 
> “Then come with us-”
> 
> “And do what?” It was the first time she snapped harshly at him all day and he could see the instant regret when her voice softened. “I’m useless aside from cooking and painting, while the rest of you know so many forms of fighting.”

Tygra was angry with himself for not checking their received transmissions earlier and leaving it to the kittens to tell him if any came in. If he checked, they could’ve had Lion-O back by now. So here they were, speeding to the coordinates given without setting off Mummra, and with very little sleep, from the opposite side of the world.

“Tygra, don’t worry, we’ll get Lion-O back,” Cheetara reassures but Tygra only grips the wheel of the Thundertank tighter. It was his turn to drive as Panthro was sleeping in the back with the kittens, and Cheetara was with him to make sure he didn’t drive off a cliff.

“I’m worried about who has him. He could be in Mummra’s hands-”

“If Mummra had him, he’d have the Sword of Omen’s and the world would have ended by now.” It was somewhat reassuring, but it wasn’t enough to get him to ease his grip of the wheel. All it did was anger him more that he let Lion-O walk off the way he did. His brother never let him walk off before, so why did he let him go? Why did Tygra let Lion-O go on his own instead of talking to him like his brother would’ve done for him?

Something pings on the panel, and Cheetara opens it up to find the same message as before, this time signed with a singular  _ L _ .

“We’ll get him,” She reassures again, yet it just makes Tygra drive faster.

Lion-O was surprised, even after almost three months, that Ailura still went to the dairy farm with him when she finished most of her jobs. She was happily talking to him about future projects she had in mind for the cottage with her hand in his as they walked up the hill to the farm. 

“So we need two jugs of milk, one of cream, and three bars of butter, right?” Lion-O double checks before Ailura gets too distracted. She nods and her smile suddenly turns sad as they reach the crest of the hill, the farm in sight.

“They’ll be here soon, won’t they?” She asks him as the wind blows the hair out of her face gently. He gives her hand a soft squeeze as they continue walking to where a somewhat oldman stood by the fence.

“Yeah, but I’ll come back to give you a tour of Thundera once it’s rebuilt,” He promises but Ailura only snorts at it.

“As if. You’re coming back out here and spending another season out here with me.” Lion-O laughs at her demand and he nudges her shoulder with his.

“Fine, but only if you make that chowder again.”

“Done deal.”

“Ailura, Leo, it’s so nice to see you both,” The old man greets when they approach. Ailura told her neighbors and those they met that Lion-O’s name was Leo to help with hiding him, but it was still strange to him to hear another name instead of his own.

“Hello Pardinyx,” Lion-O greets happily as Alinta hands her basket to the ranch hand who still won’t look Lion-O in the eye and tells him what they want.

“So I hear you’re going back on the trail soon, Leo,” Pardinyx says with a mischievous tone, “Are you planning on leaving Ailura with any little Leo’s?” Ailura chokes on her spit and Lion-O’s face erupts into a blush.

“Pardinyx no!” She shrieks as she hides behind the lions shoulder, “We’re not ready for that anytime soon!”

“Well you should Aili. Lion’s are rare, especially since Thundera and Avista fell, and you got yourself one fine lion here who could probably get you some nice kids, maybe a few lions in that bunch.” Lion-O’s face and ears were burning and he felt Ailura burying her face further into his back at the old man’s crude remarks. Pardinyx laughs at their reactions and takes the basket from the ranch hand when he arrives with their dairy products.

“But in all seriousness,” He continues, “The world is getting to be a terrible place and with those mutants making more frequent rounds, if you want to continue your lineage and have more hands to help around the house, get her knocked up as soon as possible, kid.” His tone was serious now and the two of them know he has a point; a pregnant woman was more likely to survive in their world than not, but the fact that they weren’t a real couple made their embarrassment worse.

“We will keep that in mind, thank you Pardinyx,” Lion-O thanks with an awkward chuckle as he takes the ceramic jugs from the pack on his back and hands them over to the ranch hand who anxiously takes them. It was their deal; Ailura would replace any broken containers, jugs, or shelves and they would provide her dairy whenever she wanted.

Once Ailura has the basket firmly in her hand, the two set off back down the hill towards the cottage. The walk was quiet due to their continuous embarrassment, but it wasn’t unpleasant. It was nice, as the birds chirped and the two had Lion-O’s impending leave. Ailura won’t admit to it, but she will miss him, even after he explained why he must. He’s become a joy to have around and helped her significantly.

When they reach the river, Ailura gasps and starts jumping in place, pointing ahead of her.

“It’s growing! Look!” She jumps over the river easily and goes up to a little bush Lion-O didn’t even realize they had, as it blended in well with their fruit shrubbery.

“What’s growing?” Lion-O asks as he crosses the river to join her. Kneeling, he noticed a familiar set of fruits growing on the bush and couldn’t help his gasp of surprise as well.

“My candy fruit! I didn’t think they’d grow this far away from Berbil Village,” Picking one off, she splits it in half and hands one to Lion-O who tentatively eats it. Once the two taste it, their eyes widen in shock and the lion can see her excitement in her eyes.

“It tastes amazing,” She moans slightly before going to pick the rest and put them in her basket, probably for a pie or cake later.

Ailura was right though; the fruit was some of the best he tasted, and that says a lot considering Wilykat and Wilykit always had a bag of it with them when they traveled. 

He’s about to congratulate her when a drop of rain warns him about the impending storm, and with a laugh, he grabs her hand and drags her inside as the sky opens up with a clap of thunder. Ailura laughs with him and without thinking, kisses him as soon as they reach the covering of the patio.

Lion-O wasn’t complaining though, and following the surge of emotions they both felt, kissed her back with a smile.

When the Thundertank finally reached the coordinates, it was storming badly and they could barely see in front of them.

“How are we supposed to find Lion-O in this?” Panthro asks furiously. All of them were anxious to get him back, but as per usual, there was still one hindrance that they couldn’t control. They were driving slowly and had all eyes looking, but all they could see was curtains of rain and lightning bolts when they connected with the ground.

“I think I see something!” Cheetara exclaims and lo and behold, a little window of light emerged on the horizon.

“We should stop here and walk the rest. We don’t know if they’re hostile or friendly, and if they're hostile, we risk exposing ourselves early.” Tygra was steely, as if he was preparing for a major battle in war, and it was worrying both Panthro and Cheetara. However, they do like his suggestion, so they kill the engines where they stood and open the hatch connecting them with the inside.

“We’re going out in the rain, so be prepared for anything,” Pantheon instructs and ignores the complaints from the youngest two.

“Really? But we’ll get wet!”

“Can’t we just stay here?”

“If Lion-O’s in trouble, we’ll need all hands on deck, and if this is a trap, we can’t risk losing you two,” As usual, the kits listen to the cheetah and stow away their candy fruit as Tygra checks that his guns are locked and loaded.

“Alright, let’s go, and remember to be quiet.” Panthro took on his general voice and opened the hatches for them to exit. Once out, the hatches close and they quickly head towards the light, trying not to make too much sound in between thunder.

As they approach, they notice the light turn into two windows and a door attached to a white cottage with black patterns on the baseboard. Right as they reach the steps, they also notice smoke in the chimney and hear laughing from the inside.

Gesturing for them to press against the wall underneath the sill, Tygra decides to take a peek and nearly falls backwards at the sight.

Lion-O was wrapped in a blanket on a leather couch while a short, rather round, dark haired girl brought over two plates of a delicious looking cake. Inside, the cottage looked warm and inviting as it showed off different artworks and three doorways. The girl was wearing an oversized shirt and what looked like pants made to fit his brother and sat rather ungracefully next to him and handed him a fork.

“What did you see?” Cheetara asked him quietly when she noticed his face.

“I don’t think Lion-O needs saving,” Tygra says in shock. Panthro turns to him suspiciously and decides to take a look himself. After seeing a similar scene to Tygra (or something different judging by the discoloration of his ears), Panthro decides to take matters into his own hands and stands up.

Everyone watches curiously as he lumbers to the door, and before Tygra can stop him, he knocks hard to be heard over the thunder.

Suddenly, the cottage becomes quiet and after a moment they hear footsteps at the door.

“Who's there?” Lion-O growls almost animalistically. Everyone jumped at the gutteral sound that came out of him, but Panthro tried to take it instride. 

“Any room for an old friend?” Panthro asks loudly and almost instantly, the door swings open to show a rather gruff, but neatly kept Lion-O with rosy cheeks and a big grin.

“Who is it?” A soft, almost melodic voice asks from inside.

“A good friend,” Lion-O calls back and ushers Panthro in. The moment he steps foot in the cottage, the twins barge in as well with Cheetara following to make sure they don’t break anything. Tygra stayed outside, unsure how to handle how mature his brother sounded and acted.

“It’s good to see you Lion-O, we were worried about you,” Panthro greets happily as they hug and he laughs deeply as the twins jump into the lion’s arms.

“Lion-O! You’re back!” Wilykat was ecstatic and started to examine all the physical changes the elder had undergone in his time away.

“We missed you! You were gone so long!” Wilykit had pretended to not care about the negative possibilities, but deep down she was relieved that Lion-O was alive and okay.

“I’m alright, everyone!” His laugh was rich and deep and they all noticed how carefree he seemed to be.

“It really is great to see you in such good health,” Cheetara finally says, unsure if Lion-O’s past feelings for her will still present.

However, she was quite surprised when all he did was give her a friendly hug.

“You too, Cheetara. I was worried something happened to all of you while I was gone.” Lion-O notices a shadow in the doorway and rolls his eyes.

“There’s room for one more, Tygra,” He calls out to his brother, and smiles broadly when he sheepishly steps in.

“Hey,” Tygra greets awkwardly, only to receive a not so awkward hug from the younger.

“It’s great to see you,” Lion-O says quietly as he struggles to keep his voice from breaking. Unsure of what to do, Tygra returns the hug but doesn’t say anything back. His brother knows that, however, and smiles at the words the hug says for him. They split, and they all take in his appearance up close.

His hair was cut in a similar style to Tygra’s, and although his eyes always had an air of innocence to them, they had this glow to them, as if he found his element. Lion-O was muscular before, but he seemed to be bulkier now and the faint outlines of all his muscles could be seen in the semi tight navy shirt he wore.

He looked happier than when he left, and he looked healthier, like he’s been eating well as of late. It was pleasant, but it did raise the possibility of what if he doesn’t leave.

“Oh! There’s someone I want you all to meet. She’s the one who kept me from accidentally killing myself.” His sentence was said with a laugh but the rest of the group took it with a grain of salt.

Lion-O looks around but doesn’t see who he was looking for. He hums in dismay before dashing off through one of the doors and leaving the rest perplexed.

“This is a nice place Lion-O found,” Panthro had awe in his voice as he looked at all the handmade items around the living space.

“The couch is comfy!”

“Yeah, really comfy!” The kits bounced around on the leather couch before Cheetara raised a finger.

“Settle down. We’re in someone else’s home, so we should be respectful,” Sighing, the kittens wiggle into a comfortable position before pouting. “I am curious as to who he wants to introduce us to.”

“Me too. If she’s as nice as this house, then I might actually like her.” They all snicker except for Tygra who just stares blankly at the wall, still unsure of how to take it all.

“Tygra, are you-”

“Lion-O put me down or I swear I’ll make you sleep in the river!” A shriek is heard from the room Lion-O ran into and the only thing telling them it wasn’t an attack was the deep hearty laugh that followed.

“Sure you will. Who's gonna help you reach the top shelf?” He asks the person who shrieked as they hear his footsteps come closer.

“I managed fine without you before!” She snaps, “Now put me down!”

“Nope.”

A second after, Lion-O walks in with the girl they saw in the window struggling in his arms.

She had dark fur with an off white underside and markings, her hands and feets a purified copper, and her hair was in a long braid with two locks of hair framing her face, the strand ends the same color as her hands. Her eyes were a bright and curious green in big round sockets with long eyelashes. The girls body however, was like the opposite to Cheetara’s; short and soft, although you could she had muscles under her skin, she also was far from being as lean as the cheetah in both face and body. In this day and age though, it was a sign she ate and lived well, and with a slight pang of jealousy, Cheetara wished she could say the same.

“Everyone, this is Ailura. Ailura, my friends and my brother,” Lion-O introduced as he continued to hold her off the ground.

“Yes, yes. Now put me down or I grab your ear,” The girl named Ailura hisses, causing Lion-O to drop her instantly.

She lands on her feets easily and brushes off the invisible dust on her matching navy shirt before sticking out her hand with a steely gaze. It was clear there was a lot hiding in her short stature, but there was also something comforting about her, like she was that person to give you the clothes off her back.

That is until she notices how wet they all are.

“Get off the couch! Not until you're dry!” She scolds, shooing the kids off the leather and dragging Lion-O to another door.

“You let them into my house and didn’t even give them towels?” They heard her snap and Lion-O stammer a response. Tygra snickers for once and shakes his head before jumping when the two suddenly appear with stacks of soft looking towels.

“Take one and dry yourself off before you sit  _ anywhere _ . I’ll be back with food,” She orders before Lion-O takes her stack, much to her shock.

“I don’t think getting stuck with all of us because they got a cold is a good idea,” He reasons with a flush but she only rolls her eyes.

“Whatever you say cub,” She enters the first doorway they saw Lion-O go through before turning around. “Potato, pumpkin, or pea?” She asks and the lion replies almost instantly after handing Panthro two towels.

“Potato. Maybe some tea as well?”

“Done deal.” As soon as she leaves, Panthro claps Lion-O on the back hard enough to make him wheeze.

“You scored yourself a good one there kid,” He congratulates the king and can’t help but laugh when he stutters over his own words.

“It’s really not like that-”

“Sure it is,” Cheetara interjects slyly, “It’s so obvious you two have something going on.”

“Yeah, but it’s a front-”

“Don’t lie to us, Lion-O, we know you well enough to tell,” Tygra was full blown smiling now after drying himself off thoroughly and moving on to help the kids, who were getting themselves tangled.

“No seriously,” Lion-O finally says solidly, “We have to pretend to be a couple to keep the mutants and her neighbors off my back.” It was a decent excuse, but the color on his cheeks says otherwise to the rest of them. Thankfully, Wilykit and Wilykat were oblivious to this, and decided to bombard him with questions.

“Is she nice?”

“What does she do?”

“Did she make all of this?”

“Does she have candy fruit?”

“Whoa there,” Lion-O had to stop them before they overwhelmed everyone and caused an accident as he gathered the dirty towels. “Those are for you to find out for yourselves, and for me to stay quiet about because I value my life.” His words were a clear joke, but the shout from the other room made them all laugh.

“I heard that, lion!” Ailura snaps at him from the kitchen as the delicious smell of herbs and tea fill the room.

“Seriously though, you’ve been with her the past six months?” Tygra was curious, as it was quite obvious Lion-O had spent a decent time here, but he wasn’t sure how much.

“No,” His brother responds after he came back from wherever he went, “It’s been about two and a half, maybe three months, since Ailura and I started working together, and to be frank I’m surprised with how much I’ve learned with her.”

“Like what?” Panthro asks him, genuinely curious about his time spent in the middle of nowhere.

“I’ve learned more about what life is like when you’re not a king, and learned how to be self sufficient. It’s actually been really fun-”

“It better have been. I didn’t use up a week of my time making sure you didn’t sweat to death for you to be ungrateful.” Her sudden entrance scares them all but the aroma from the mugs of tea on the tray soothes their nerves instantly. Handing a mug to everyone, she has to remind them to blow on it in case it's too hot as some come close to burning their tongues.

“Drink up. It should bring your body temperature back up to normal while the soup simmers.” Following her instructions, everyone starts to cool their tea while Ailura subtly tugs on Lion-O’s shirt to ask him to follow her, and he does so quietly as everyone starts talking among themselves.

“So that’s your family,” She says sadly once they’re in the kitchen and she’s stirring the pot of soup.

“Ailura-”

“I’m not upset about it Lion-O, don’t worry,” She reassures, “It just makes me realize how short and weird it’s been.” He leans on the counter and tries to catch her eye, concerned about her attitude.

“At first we wanted nothing to do with each other and now look at us.” The comment makes her laugh sadly, a complete 180 from her normal laugh. It was painstakingly obvious she was sad about him leaving, but she had come to an understanding why.

“You know i’ll be back, right?” Lion-O asks her as he moves closer to her, grabbing some bowls while he is moving.

“I do, I’m just not looking forward to being alone again.” It was understandable how scared she was about being alone with her own thoughts again.

“Then come with us-”

“And do what?” It was the first time she snapped harshly at him all day and he could see the instant regret when her voice softened. “I’m useless aside from cooking and painting, while the rest of you know so many forms of fighting.”

Lion-O still didn’t know about her talents in water, but she wasn’t going to bring that up now, because how often will they have an ample supply of water for her to use in battle? It’ll be rare, and it’ll end up hindering them more than helping them.

“But you’re a knowledgeable healer-”

“And that’s all fine and dandy if I could fight.” It was a fruitless endeavor to convince her to leave with him, but with a lingering stare, he helps her spoon bowls of soup and adds them to a tray.

“Y’know,” He starts again after a minute, “I’m not exactly keen on that guy being able to come round when I’m not here.” Ailura snorts at his dark remark and gives him a soft side glance, cheeks gaining color.

“Who says he’ll be able to get near me? Pretty sure Pardinyx has it in his head that you’ll get me knocked up and won’t let that guy near me.” This time it was Lion-O’s turn to snort at the memory of their conversation with the old man earlier.

“That’s a last resort, and I hope you know that.”

“Gods, I hope it is. Have you even thought about what glass blowing would be like when you’re that round?” Choking on his spit, Lion-O doesn’t know if he’s coughing or laughing as Ailura grabs utensils for them to use. When she turns around, Lion-O’s gaze on her was soft and reminiscent, the past three months probably flashing in his head. Ailura couldn’t help the same look overcome her, and she pats the basket that had been emptied and refilled.

“Remember to take that with you in the morning,” She reminds him softly as she grabs the tray of bowls to take to her guests. He snaps out of his trance only to be put into another when he notices the little card tied to the handles with her now familiar handwriting printing  _ Leo _ .


	5. To The Ground

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “The lion left last night, which your source should’ve told you about.” She was trying to be defiant, but she couldn’t help her legs shaking ever so slightly. Ailura doubted Lion-O would come for her, even after all this time. When lives are on the line, you tend to think about yourself more, and she believed with every ounce of her soul that he was more focused on getting he and his family out safe

An explosion wakes everyone from their slumber and on instinct, Lion-O’s arms had wrapped around Ailura’s torso and brought her closer to him. Orange and yellow light filled the cottage through the windows and the lion was instantly in the kitchen and grabbing the sword and shield from it’s compartment, hissing at Ailura to stay where she was.

The cats had stayed the night to wait out the weather, with Cheetara and Tygra (without much complaint) sharing the couch, the kittens in Lion-O’s old room, and Panthro on the pull out mattress in the living room with the other two adults. Lion-O had spent the night in Ailura’s room to make space, which surprisingly, the two did not complain about, but now, all of them were gathering themselves from their rude awakening.

“What was that?” Cheetara calls, already dressed and grabbing everyone’s weapons.

“I don’t know, but whatever it is, we owe it to Ailura to kick ‘em to the curb,” Panthro grunts, already having become good friends with the short cat.

“Wilykit, Wilykat, you stay here with Ailura and help her defend the cottage. We’re going to see what that was,” Tygra orders just as another explosion rocks the house. Ailura comes out already dressed, having traded in her usual skirt and no sleeved top for pants and short sleeves, her arms wrapped in some sort of gauze. Tygra turns to her angrily as everyone tries to look outside.

“If this is a trap-”

“If I was a trap for you, I would’ve killed your brother by now and set the sword to Mummra,” She snaps right back, taking a bag from under the couch and slinging it over her shoulder. 

“The river and the workshop is the most defendable point on my land. I’ll take the kits there and if you need, fall back there.”

“Got it,” Lion-O was worried for Ailura, as he’s never seen her wield a weapon (her shears and kitchen knives don’t count) and for all they know, Mummra could be at their doorstep.

“Be safe you lot,” She calls out before ushering the kids out the back door, leaving the adults there to peer out the door to see what they were dealing with.

A handful of mutants with mechs were in the field shooting missiles into the ground, trying to hit something in particular. It was strange, because they were all obviously trying to hit something, but it was like they couldn’t see it.

“What are they trying to hit?” Cheetara asks as they analyze the strike patterns.

“I have no idea, but whatever it is, we need to find it first,” Lion-O snarls, not liking the idea of mutants getting too close. “We have to keep them from getting too close to the cottage or we risk destroying it.” Nodding, all of them are about to dash out when they hear a familiar mutant's voice boom over the field.

“If the river witch doesn’t surrender herself soon along with the lion, we burn this place to the ground!” Slithe screeches and everyone looks at each other in confusion.

“River witch? Lion-O you’ve been here longest, who could they be talking about?” Panthro asks as another explosion shakes them.

“I don’t know,” Lion-O was panicking now, “There were no magic users that I knew of here, and nothing out of the ordinary,” He trails off in thought before his heart drops.

“Lion-O, what's wrong?” Tygra asks, not used to his brother visibly panicking.

“Ailura, Wilykat and Wilykit, they’re at the river.” The color drains from their faces and they scramble to go out back, not noticing everything quiet down.

When they burst out the door, they notice the kittens standing in the river alone, weapons drawn but uncertainty showing on their faces. Looking around, there was no sign of Ailura and no footprints, dropping Lion-O’s heart further.

“Kat, Kit, where’s Ailura?” He asks them, still looking for the woman.

“We don’t know,” Kit says with a shaky voice before holding out a round disk with a symbol engraved into it. “She told us to stay in the river and hold onto this until you came back for us when the mutants asked for the river witch.” Lion-O curses and runs a hand through his hair.

“She’s probably trying to find an escape route,” Tygra analyzes but it is immediately shushed by Cheetara.

“Do you hear that?” She asks quietly, and when they couldn’t hear anything, all of them turn to her with hearts in their throats.

“Why is it so quiet?” Wilykat asks and a gust of wind blows the faintest, but familiar scent Lion-O’s way. It stops him stone cold and it must show on his face because everyone turns to him.

“Lion-O-”

“I know why they stopped,” He blurts and starts to move, scrambling to get balance. “If we don’t do something, they’ll take Ailura to Mummra or kill her.”

“How do you know?” Tygra asks and isn’t prepared for the look of fury on his younger brother's face as he snaps to look at him.

“For once can you just trust me?” His voice was a deep snarl and it startled all of them. “I owe her my life, and I’m not about to just sit here and let her destroy everything she’s worked for just because you’re skeptical of my judgement.”

“I’m not skeptical about you, I’m skeptical about her. It could be another Pumyra-”

“Don’t you  _ ever  _ say her name again!” They’re all surprised that his roar doesn’t give them all away. Tygra’s never seen Lion-O like this, not since Avista, and to see him so furious is proving just how much has changed.

“You haven’t spent the last three months with her,” He continues quietly, “You don’t know her like I do, and you don’t know just how fast she’d give her life for anyone, even if she doesn’t know them. So whether or not you’ll help me, is up to you, but I’m going after her.” Turning on his heel, he darts off and follows the scent hoping he’s not too late.

“You wanted me?” Ailura asks the mutants as their head honcho disembarks his mech to talk to her.

“Ah, you’re the river witch that cat told us about,” The lizard hisses, eyeing Ailura warily in case she uses magic against him.

She wasn’t a powerful sorceress, having not had proper training like the clergy’s in Thundera, so she was only limited to healing and enhancement spells as well as other basics. Nothing too great, unless she had contact with a large enough body of water, which at the moment, was limited to the tiny puddle she stood in.

“Hand us over the lion, and we leave you in peace,” He orders but is still wary. Whoever ratted her out, doesn’t know her power limitations, meaning she could use this to her advantage.

“The lion left last night, which your source should’ve told you about.” She was trying to be defiant, but she couldn’t help her legs shaking ever so slightly. Ailura doubted Lion-O would come for her, even after all this time. When lives are on the line, you tend to think about yourself more, and she believed with every ounce of her soul that he was more focused on getting he and his family out safe.

“You should know where he went then, hm?” Snorting, Ailura crosses her arms to steady her hands and glares at the mutant dead in his eyes.

“As if. He didn’t tell me anything-”

“Sure he did,” A familiar voice said and she felt the muzzle of a gun against her head, chilling her to the very bone.

“Nigrip,” Ailura guesses in a confident tone, “Not surprised it’s you.”

“I’m surprised you think so little of me Aili,” Nigrip mocks, pressing the metal harder into her scalp. “But now that that blasted lion is gone, all you have to do is tell Slithe the truth and he said I can have you all to myself.” Ailura’s blood runs cold at his words, a portion of her hoping that Lion-O comes to her rescue like the first time Nigrip asked her hand when Lion-O was here.

“Let’s try this again,” Slithe says curtly just as Ailura hears the safety of the gun come off. “Where did the lion go?”

“Right here!” The roar was another familiar voice, this time it didn’t chill her soul, but rather warmed it up as mechs exploded behind them, scaring Ailura into a crouch as the gun goes off accidentally, nailing Slithe in the shoulder just as Lion-O slashes at him with a snarl on his face. 

He shrieks and stumbles back right as Nigrip harshly grabs Ailura by her hair, earning a scream from her. The black wildcat yanks her to her feet and an arm holds her place by her neck as the other aims the gun at her temple. She could hear his friends fighting off the last of the mutants but all she could focus on was the cold metal against her temple. Ailura wishes she could use offensive magic but she couldn’t risk something going wrong and accidentally triggering the gun.

“Let her go,” Lion-O snarls at the former ranch hand, teeth bared as he tries not to lunge at the man.

“And let you have all the fun with her? No way,” The man snaps back, tightening his grip around her throat. It constricts her airway and Ailura had to remind herself to pace her breaths. “I heard what Pardinyx said to you two, and I can’t let you be the first with her.” Her cheeks flushed but she couldn’t tell if that was from embarrassment or from lack of air.

“You really think I want something like that?” At first, Ailura took it as an insult despite her situation but he continues. “She’s not some trophy, she’s-”

“She’s mine, that's what she is.” His grip gets tighter and Ailura could feel her consciousness lapsing. The glow from the fire was going dark and her hearing was starting to fail. “Slithe said I could have her if I told him where the town is and got her to bring you to him, so now she’s all mine.”

“Why? You’ll kill everyone!”

“It’s a price I’m willing to pay.”

“But we’re not!” A gruff voice growls just as Ailura almost loses consciousness. Something makes Nigrip lose balance and let go of her, and she falls into the now familiar arms of the lion. He holds her close as Slithe screams something from afar just as a loud rumble shakes them. She wasn’t lucid enough to process most things, but what she could process as air steadily refilled her lungs was an explosion erupt on the opposite to them. With a turn of her head, Ailura felt her heart shatter as Lion-O quickly made her turn her head back into his chest. Sobs ripped through her as the sight of her lifelong home burning down engraves itself in her mind.

“It’s alright Ailura,” Lion-O tries to console as she crumbles into an oxygen deprived hysteric. He mutters something to someone behind her and she can feel herself being transferred into tree trunk like arms that smell of motor oil. It told her it was Panthro, but she couldn’t handle everything now.

She shouldn’t have welcomed Lion-O into her home. She shouldn’t have allowed the rest of them near her.

Ailura should’ve given in to Nigrip the first time he asked her to be with him.

The same thoughts swirled over and over again in her head until she sobbed herself to sleep, unaware of the still ongoing battle as the others drove back and killed the last of the mutants who destroyed her home.


End file.
